Preliminary discussion of the logical design of an electronic computer (1946)

This is how Kernighan describes the paper:

> The basic organization—with a processor, storage for instructions and data, and input and output devices—has been standard since the 1940s. It’s often called the von Neumann architecture , after John von Neumann, who described it in the 1946 paper quoted above. Though there is still debate over whether von Neumann gets too much credit for work done by others, the paper is so clear and insightful that it is well worth reading even today. For example, the quotation at the beginning of this chapter is the first sentence of the paper. Translated into today’s terminology, the CPU provides arithmetic and control, the RAM and disk are memory storage, and the keyboard, mouse and display interact with the human operator.

> ...The architecture of a computer—what the pieces are, what they do, and how they are connected to each other—has not changed since the 1940s. If von Neumann were to come back and examine one of today’s computers, I conjecture that he would be stunned by modern hardware but would find the architecture completely familiar.

"160kb should be enough for anyone" but with a refreshing dollop of humility